“It’s hard to know, but I mean if you’re in the Iowa caucuses and 41 percent of Democrats are socialists or self-described socialists, and I’m asked ‘Are you a capitalist?’ and I say, ‘Yes, but with appropriate regulation and appropriate accountability.’ You know, that probably gets lost in the ‘Oh my gosh, she’s a capitalist!’ ” Clinton said.

Sanders went on to win the first 2016 primary, in New Hampshire, among other states.

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Earlier, at the Shared Value Leadership Summit in New York on Wednesday, Clinton had said that "the reputation of capitalism is pretty much in tatters for young people," according to Fortune magazine.

Clinton said that powerful companies in America are "disrupting our democracy" by worsening income inequality, and that one step toward fixing the problem would be voting Republicans out of office in 2018.

The Daily Beast reported that Republicans quickly seized on the comments, posting them on multiple social media channels.